April 2nd, the Glory Team headed to Los Angeles to face the Los Angeles Lakers.
Back in the Western Conference, whether with the Trail Blazers or Glory, Gan Guoyang played the Lakers eight times a season.
In the 80s, when there were fewer teams, they met five times in the regular season, and again in the playoffs, playing the Lakers more than enough.
After moving to the Eastern Conference, the two teams were meeting for the first time this season, with another game in two weeks when the Lakers would be visiting Glory.
After the plane landed and the hotel check-in, the next day at noon, when the team gathered for warm-up training, everyone noticed Cooper wasn’t there.
Another assistant coach, Jim Boylen, said, "Uh, Cooper might not make it for tonight’s game. He ate something bad on the plane and has diarrhea, can’t get out of bed."
Having lost another coach, this season’s Glory coach crisis became more severe. After sending Cooper to the doctor, the team was left with only Jim Boylen as a coach.
Jim Boylen had followed Tomjanovich during his Rockets days and was indeed a good assistant coach, but as a head coach, he was too rigid and wasn’t suited for it.
Moreover, to be honest, Jim Boylen wasn’t very popular within the Glory team. When Tomjanovich got sick, the team chose Cooper to replace him not because Cooper was outstanding — he was mediocre — but because Jim Boylen was even worse.
So, almost without thinking, everyone agreed to let Cooper be the interim head coach. Otherwise, letting the stiff Jim Boylen lead might cause a lot of trouble.
Gan Guoyang also knew Jim Boylen wasn’t cut out to be head coach. This bald guy was too abrasive; he was better suited as a college coach, managing student players strictly, but in a professional team like Glory, his methods wouldn’t work.
However, Gan Guoyang didn’t want to embarrass the only coach the team currently had, so he pretended to ask Jim Boylen, "Jim, do you have confidence in taking on the interim head coach role?"
Word from the hospital indicated that Dean Cooper had food poisoning and might need a week’s rest, meaning the interim head coach would have to cover three games.
Jim Boylen was hesitant. He hadn’t thought about becoming head coach temporarily, and he knew Old Tom would come back. Taking on the head coach role for three games meant if he won, he’d still be an assistant, but if he lost, he’d have to take the blame. It wasn’t worth it.
So, Boylen said, "I’m... not very confident."
"That’s okay, just do your main job well. How about this, I’ll find someone else to be the interim head coach, choosing from the players. That guy, Porter! Porter! Where’s Porter?"
Yao Ming said, "Porter just said his stomach didn’t feel well and went to the restroom."
"Crap, he didn’t get food poisoning too, did he?"
Of course, Porter wasn’t poisoned, he just had a keen nose.
When Gan Guoyang started asking Jim Boylen questions, Porter sensed something bad was coming.
Old Gan did this sort of thing too often. If he asked you, it meant he didn’t support you, offering you a way to withdraw on your own terms.
Next, he would choose his preferred person. Since you didn’t step up, he’d just appoint whoever he favored.
And who was Old Gan’s guy? Obviously, it was me, Terry Porter!
But Porter didn’t want to take on this burden. He’d finally worked his way to a retirement role late in the season.
Joining Ewing and Willis as the team’s retirement trio, many games were spent sitting on the bench.
Game time should be left to the younger players like Van Exel, Andre Miller, and Jon Barry.
At my age, why join in the hustle? After this season ends, I’ll retire, buy a piece of land back home with my 10 or 11 championship rings, and happily spend my time fishing, farming, and playing golf.
I’ve spent half my life on this; it’s time to enjoy it.
Porter was a golf enthusiast, and at his age, basketball had become an obstacle to playing golf.
Yet, from Gan Guoyang’s posture, he seemed to want me to coach? Promptly, Porter made a restroom dash to escape.
Porter undoubtedly understood Gan Guoyang very well, but the restroom dash was useless. Five hours later, at the Staples Center, Porter sat courtside with a pained expression.
Even though he wore his player sports jersey, Gan Guoyang assigned him an important task — to command tonight’s game.
No tactical requirements were imposed, but when to call a timeout, when to substitute, and cheering on teammates, were all your responsibility.
Hoping to sit on the bench and loaf, was absolutely impossible.
Gan Guoyang personally said to Porter, "Terry, as a player, you’re indeed quite old, but as a coach, you’re still very young. You need to gain some experience and prepare for the future."
"Do I even have a future?"
"Why wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to be a coach?"
"I don’t want to."
"No, you do. Tonight, the decision to call timeouts is yours. When it’s needed, tell Jim, and he’ll communicate with the technical bench."
"Couldn’t Jim just take over?"
"Jim said he wasn’t confident."
"But I also..." Porter’s words faltered as he saw Gan Guoyang’s intense gaze, forcing him to swallow back the rest and say, "I’m very confident."
"That’s right, that’s the Porter we know, always brimming with confidence! Sailing into a new field!" Gan Guoyang didn’t forget to pump up Porter.
Nearing game time, Porter called the teammates together, standing in the center, he said a few simple words.
Porter indeed had great charisma. He didn’t give overly passionate speeches, maintaining his usual calmness.
But his experience, his ten championship rings, and his calm, incisive demeanor, inexplicably reassured the players.
At night, in the match against the Lakers, the Glory Team performed quite well, leading by 10 at halftime.
The Lakers weren’t lacking in strength, but after trading O’Neal, naturally, they weren’t the same.
Tracy McGrady had become the unquestioned core of the Lakers, averaging over 30 points per game, and his style was elegant and appealing.
Tonight, the Lakers purposefully wore white home jerseys with gold trim. McGrady, wearing number 1, looked very dashing.
Every time on the perimeter, he’d hold the ball single-handedly, observing the defense with his hand behind him, followed by a quick burst and a sudden stop for a pull-up jumper.
Never mind if it went in or not, just say whether it looked cool.
It did look very cool, and his shooting percentage was quite good too, not bad.
Once he found his rhythm, McGrady’s pull-up jumper was quite precise.
Moreover, besides McGrady, the Lakers’ inside player, Rashid Wallace, didn’t produce enough on offense.
Though proclaimed as being on par with Tim Duncan, Nowitzki, Garnett, and Webber, Wallace’s skills and abilities weren’t lacking.
But as a star power forward, his entire career couldn’t average over 20 points per season, even less than Kevin Garnett, indicating inadequate offensive output.
Therefore, many opportunities fell to McGrady, tasked with handling broken plays too.
Phil Jackson also cultivated McGrady like Jordan, but there was indeed a notable difference in their ability and efficiency.
McGrady had his advantages, being taller and able to play the small forward position, somewhat reminiscent of Pippen.
Pippen was also nearing the end of his career with the Lakers, his contract expiring soon. Unlike Jordan, he wanted to keep playing.
Wanting money, rectifying the regret of earning too little at his peak meant even if the Lakers didn’t renew his contract, he considered finding another team willing to offer a contract.
In the second half, the Lakers launched a comeback, narrowing the gap to 3 points.
Porter called a timeout and began arranging tactics — this guy had stepped into the role.
Porter didn’t entrust the ball to Jordan and Gan Guoyang but asked for more feeding of the ball to Yao Ming to break open the Lakers’ defense.
This strategy turned out remarkably effective, with Yao Ming hitting 5 for 5 early in the fourth quarter, helping Glory regain the lead firmly.
Moreover, Yao Ming managed to hit a three-pointer with his fifth shot, invigorating the entire Glory bench.
Glory witnessed a thrilling yet secure victory, 102:94, defeating the Lakers and earning a triumph.
When asked why he gave the opportunity to Yao Ming, Porter said, "I thought, with Yao Ming contending for Rookie of the Year, he needed some chances to show himself; otherwise, he’d fall behind."
No one expected Porter to be so sort-spirited, not considering tactics but more from a human perspective.
In this aspect, he indeed learned a lot from Old Tom. Gan Guoyang’s choice was indeed right.